Succession Planning A Necessity for Small Businesses

According to SuccessFactor's recent survey, succession planning is another area in which organizations are getting a "failing" grade:

• 58% stated that there was no/did not know if their organization has a succession planning strategy in place
• 48% face challenges with a lack of visibility into employee skills, experience level and career path
• 46% face challenges with an inability to quickly find a pool of qualified internal candidates for open positions
• 44% face challenges with a lack of visibility into bench strength for leadership positions

"Most companies would like to take a snapshot of their workforce and freeze it in time. With this line of thinking, no one would leave, no positions would be eliminated and no one would be promoted. The problem is that this scenario does not account for the good things that happen to a company as a result of business success and therefore forces the company to implement a comprehensive succession planning strategy: the company grows, necessitating more workers, talented individuals become available on the job market, high performers within your company are promoted to recognize their good work."

BOTTOMLINE: "Succession planning is not only a good practice—it is a necessity for businesses large and small. Succession management, when instituted as a standard and consistent business process, incorporating long term vision and strong technology, will ensure the continued effective performance of an organization by making provision for the development and replacement of key people over time, allowing an organization to evolve seamlessly."